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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Neither does Kathy Sebright. In fact, she despises it. Ask her about the treadmill and she’ll tell you in no uncertain terms, “I only run on it when there are no other options for getting outside. I run outside year round. Snow, ice, wind, rain, heat, blazing humidity - you name it, I'm there.” But in less than a month she’s going to be running on one…for possibly eight hours straight. Let that sink in for a minute. She’ll be running AN EIGHT HOUR TREADMILL RUN or however long it takes her 15 month old son to emerge safely from an invasive surgery in which the bones of his skull will literally be broken and put back together because of medical condition called Craniosynostosis. Never heard of Craniosynostosis? Neither did I. Nor did Kathy. In fact, she’s not entirely sure her son’s doctors did either which is EXACTLY the reason why she’ll be running – to raise for a cause that hit home. This is Kathy’s story, and that of her precious son, Emmett, in her own words…

Craniosynostosis is a birth defect in which one of the sutures in the skull closes too early, before the baby’s brain is fully formed. This can inhibit brain growth and cause severe and permanent damage. Signs to look for are a misshapen head (not to be confused with plagiocephaly – flat head syndrome), a hard, raised ridge along the affected suture, a soft spot that closed too early, or a slow growing head. The earlier Craniosynostosis is caught – the better! A less invasive surgery is sometimes an option if the child is under 6 months. Otherwise, 6-12 months is the optimal age for cranial vault reconstruction.

Emmett is our second child, he is 14 months old. We also have a 3 year old son, Travis. Emmett is such a happy, smiley baby with a huge personality. He has beautiful, big, blue eyes that just light up the room. He adores his big brother and laughs uncontrollably with infectious baby giggles anytime my 3 year old does something silly. He’s a stubborn, strong willed baby, but that has served him well as he’s become an excellent fighter. He came into our lives shortly after I had lost 2 babies consecutively during pregnancy. The doctors who thought I would lose him as well, told me to “prepare myself”, and put me on bed rest for 8 weeks during the 1st trimester.

But just as quickly as the problem had surfaced, it went away and I was taken off bed rest with a very normal, uncomplicated, remainder of my pregnancy! He is our little miracle baby. He is developmentally delayed in a few areas. We have yet to hear him say mama or dada, or even associate us with those words, but I know he’s a smart baby and will catch up soon. He also doesn’t walk yet either, but we keep patiently waiting until we can fill out that milestones page in his baby book.

We noticed right away when Emmett was born that he had a different shaped head, but the doctors kept telling us it was nothing to worry about and it would ”pop back out” eventually. He has a prominent ridge running from the top of his head down to his nose, his temples are pinched in (indented), and he has a triangular shaped head. But other than his oddly shaped noggin, he was a perfectly healthy baby for the first entire year of his life.

And then everything happened at once. He had his first grand mal seizure a week after his first birthday, then a partial seizure, and later another grand mal seizure. A CT scan revealed the metopic suture in his skull had closed early and we were told it was nothing at all to worry about. This time, I didn’t believe them when they said not to worry. I did my own research, looked at other CT scans online, made my own diagnosis of metopic Craniosynostosis (trigoncephaly), and demanded a referral to see a specialist. I knew what my son had before any of his doctors. We struggled to get the doctors to take us seriously, to get the referral we needed, and for them to believe me. They didn’t even want to schedule surgery for another 6 months and told us “he should be fine” until then.

We ended up switching hospitals/doctors because we felt we were not getting quality care. At the second hospital with a different set of doctors, our son was immediately diagnosed with severe metopic Craniosynostosis. When they gave us the diagnosis, in front of an entire team of doctors and surgeons, I started sobbing. The doctor stopped talking about the surgery, handed me a tissue, and reassuringly patted my hand. At which point I cracked a smile and then started giggling, realizing they thought I was distressed about what they had just told me and about to crack. I managed to blurt out, “I’m relieved, I was right” and the doctors started laughing with me. They told me I was the first parent they’ve ever seen cry tears of relief at this diagnosis and then laugh. I was just so unbelievably relieved that this group of doctors agreed with me, saw the urgency in the situation as we did, and were going to do something about it as soon as possible.

We then took on our insurance company who did not want to pay a penny for us to use this out of network hospital. They wanted us to go back to the first hospital that didn’t take us seriously and didn’t even seem concerned with our son’s condition. We fought relentlessly with them, for weeks, and were just about to contact the local news station to help us put public pressure on them, when they caved.

During the pre-operative testing, we found out a few things. The seizures were not related to the Craniosynostosis, but without a doubt, a Godsend because we would have never known about the Craniosynostosis without the seizures coming first! We will investigate the seizures further after the surgery, as the surgery is the highest priority right now. An MRI also revealed a venous abnormality in his brain – which is something abnormal with a vein in his brain. Again, it’s unrelated to the Craniosynostosis, but something else we never would have known to look for if he didn’t have Craniosynostosis first! Another Godsend. He will need to have it monitored regularly in case it starts to restrict blood flow or rupture, but for now, it’s not causing any problems.

The surgery he will need to correct the Craniosynostosis is a cranial vault reconstruction. It is a 7-8 hour surgery where they will make a zig-zag incision ear to ear. They will break the bones of his skull, reshape them, and put them back together with plates and screws. Since Emmett also suffers from unexplained seizures, there is a bit of a complication. If he seizes on the OR table, it could be fatal. He will be put on anti-convulsant medication for the surgery but nothing can be guaranteed as we don’t know the origin of the seizures. If all goes with the surgery, we will spend 2-3 days in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) and 3-4 days in the hospital. Because of the nature of the surgery, there is a lot of facial swelling which causes the eyes to swell shut. Before we can be released from the hospital, he will need to be able to open at least one eye. From what we understand, he should bounce back fairly quickly, in a couple of weeks; he should be acting like his old self! Sometimes additional surgeries are needed because the skull can revert back to its original shape. It’s something we will have to watch.

As for the stress, all I can say is that we are very fortunate. We have a solid faith to lean on that has helped us navigate this with more ease than I thought possible. We have a huge support system with family, friends, coworkers, and our church congregation. I have retold Emmett’s story to people many times and I’ve watched their mouths agape with horror and tears in their eyes. People are always shocked that we are doing so well with this and they don’t understand how. It’s not that I’m desensitized to it or I don’t care, it’s just that I know something big is happening and I know something good is coming out of this. I chose hope.

When he’s in pain, it pains me. I still do worry too. When I can’t sleep, I sneak into his room and watch him sleep. I have been known to fall asleep on the floor next to his crib. I try and reason with God, telling him all the good Emmett could do here with us if he’ll just allow it. But in the end, it’s not up to me and I have to accept that. I will cherish every moment I have with him now and not worry about the future. If we didn’t have the faith we do, I can certainly see where it would break me. The thought that he is suffering in vain, that the seizures could cause irrevocable damage, that surgery could kill him, that the abnormality in his brain could kill him – that’s too much to handle on my own. But because I know it’s in God’s hands, I know Emmett is going to make a difference. Emmett is going to bring about change. What is happening to our family right now – people are watching, waiting to see what we will do. And what we are going to do is simply trust.

We have decided to embrace Craniosynostosis whole heartedly. Because his skull is triangular, we have a newfound love of triangles and all things triangular. We joke that the triangle is our new family crest. I wrote a book about Craniosynostosis from my 3 year olds perspective, in the hopes other kids can understand. We are working with an illustrator now and will try publishing shortly. I wrote the word Craniosynostosis on the bottom of my running shoes so that I can stomp it into the ground, mile after mile. We made two shirts for him to wear after surgery. One says, ‘chicks dig scars’ and another says, ‘you should see the other guy’. People are going to stare. We know that. We’ve decided not to let it bother us or get to us and use it as an opportunity to educate others.

I have a pretty solid running background. I truly and passionately love running. I have run for a little over 7 years. I direct my own small 5k, I’ve been a fitness ambassador, a pacer, I ran a half marathon 6 months pregnant, I’ve run 2 full marathons, numerous half’s, and way too many 5ks and 10ks to keep track of. I was in the very early stages of training for an ultra when I got pregnant and decided to tone down the mileage a bit! I have run all the way through both pregnancies with my boys including a 3 mile “due date run” with both as well.

My husband and I decided to do Emmett’s (virtual) Endurance Event on June 20th in honor of our son. I am going to run for the entire 7 to 8 hours he is in surgery. I will not rest and will not stop, until he is out safely. I wanted to do this because I could think of no other way to show my level of dedication and devotion to my son. I don’t want him to do this alone. Even though he is in another room, I will suffer right alongside him, in the best way I know how. Of course, running is nothing like having your skull broken apart, but it’s the best I can offer him.

We are asking others to do something on this day in support of Emmett. Print off a race bib and run, walk, bike, hike, or do anything at all that you want to at some point during the day. It doesn’t have to be at any specific time, it doesn’t have to be a certain amount of time, just whatever you are willing to do, whenever you have a chance. Take a quick picture for us so we can immortalize you in our support hall of fame too and that’s it. We get 2 things out of this: 1. People will hear the word Craniosynostosis and it may help raise awareness and 2. We will know we are not alone in this. When I start to run on fumes around hour 5, I will know there are all these people out there who are willing to do something for my son, doing something right at the very moment, and I must keep going.

Training for this has a presented a few problems, mainly due to time constraints. The hospital where he will have surgery is 2-1/2 hours away. Just one appointment can take up an entire day. I am still running regularly, but for the first time ever, I am running for time – not distance. I made up my own training plan based loosely on the Pfitz marathon plan I’ve used in the past. Running for time is a new concept for me to grasp. This week, my long run was 4 hours. I kept looking at my watch to see how close I was to being “done” but had to keep reminding myself it didn’t matter how far I went, just how long it had been. Next week, I will go for 5 hours, and so on. I will peak at 7 hours before coming back down. I don’t know how well my body will handle it, but I’m willing to find out for the noblest cause I can think of.

The hospital has a small gym for inpatient families and that is where I will be running. The hospital is giving me a pager so they can notify us if anything comes up or they need to talk to us. My husband, Tony, will be at my side the entire time as well and will take periodic updates from the doctors as long as everything is going ok. Tony is my biggest fan, running supporter, and coach. While not a runner himself, he knows more about running and training than a lot of runners do!

I have made it my personal mission to bring Craniosynostosis awareness. Early detection is key and there are many doctors out there that don’t even know what is or what to look for! I was recently a pacer for a large 25k road race. I wore a sign on my back about Craniosynostosis urging people to ask me about it. So many people did and it was wonderful to help get the word out. I even got to tell a midwife all about it, who had never heard of it. It’s small, but it’s a start!

My sincerest hope is that this information about Craniosynostosis sticks in at least one person’s mind, and it makes all the difference in the world to someone else. I want Emmett to wear his scar proudly and to know that he helped make that difference.

If you would like to join Kathy, support Emmett and spread the word about Craniosynostosis, please join her public event on FB here and invite your friends to do the same. You can access that FB page even if you don’t have a FB account, because it’s a public event. If you’d like to leave Kathy and/or her family some words of encouragement on what may quite possibly be the toughest ultra marathon I have ever heard of, feel free to do so in the comments.

Me? I may not be physically capable of running for 8 hours, but I can run something and most importantly…I can pray.

Monday, May 21, 2012

And was SORELY needed following the string of less than delightful days I seem to be having lately. Just in case any of you too happen to be in one of those anything that can go wrong will funky funks too, I thought I’d share.

As I wolfed down a turkey wrap so I could get out the door to go pick up my van which had to be towed to the dealership today after leaving my three girlies & I stranded at church yesterday because of a malfunctioning key (stupid technology. Somebody failed to think those hi tech computer chip keys all the way through I’ll tell ya.), I picked up that Runner’s World trail edition that came out fairly recently & randomly flipped to an article I hadn’t read yet. The one I stumbled upon had to do with why women are such hoss studs at trail/ultra events. Somewhere in the middle, I read this…

But in the longer races, it becomes about who can withstand the suffering and push through the pain.” Anecdotally at least, women seem to have a psychological advantage in the self-torture department. “There’s no research to suggest that men or women are stronger mentally,” says Karp. “But because they’re the ones having children, there might be an evolutionary trait that women acquired that men don’t have that allows them to endure pain.”

Talk to almost anyone in trail racing, and they’ll chime in with variations on the same theme: “I can’t say this from an expert point of view, but women seem to be able to figure out how to deal with problems as they arise,” says Jurek. “It could be a type of instinct, or intuition. Sometimes ego will get the best of men.” Or, as Meltzer puts it, “When men have a bad day, they are more likely to walk off the course. Women seem to like to finish more than men.”

Darn straight. If you’re having a day (or a few) like I’ve been having lately, take a step back and a deep breath and remember the bad mother runner you are. You. Got. This.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

I know. You are all waiting with baited breath. You can hardly stand the suspense.

I’ve got in my hot little hands right here THE list of winners from the Cami Checketts Dead Running Giveaway. And let me tell you, my girls were thrilled THRILLED to get to choose so many this morning.

While I’m tempted to drag this out like Ryan Seacrest and his ridiculously long pauses at any of the American Idol finales and make my captive little audience here read on and on, I won’t do that to you. So without further ado, here are our winners…

If you see the name you entered the contest as listed above, send me an email at runfastmommy@gmail.com and I’ll fill you in on the details. Cathy and Rich your names have been submitted into the Grand Prize Drawing. Best of luck to you!

If you didn’t win, don’t panic! I’ve got lots more giveaways on the horizon that you’re going to love, love, LOVE (Train Like a Mother anyone?)In the meantime, if you’d like to get your hands on a copy of Cami’s book, Dead Running, she’s lowered the Kindle edition price to just $2.99 for the rest of the month! And if it was the race entries to Rock the World that you were really after, don’t forget you can STILL register with a $10 discount by using the code RUNMOM10 at checkout.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

First, let me do the teaser here, then I’ll tell you how I really feel…

Cassidy Christensen is running.

Running from the mercenaries who killed her parents.

Running from a scheming redhead intent on making her life miserable.

Running from painful memories that sabotage her dreams of happiness.

With two very tempting men competing for her attention, she hopes she’ll finally have someone to run to, but can she trust either of them? When secrets from her past threaten her family, Cassidy decides to stop running and fight for her future.

Let me be frank. Cassidy bugged me, at least at first. She seemed full of herself and as if she thought she was better than all us silly runners. I kind of wanted to kick her a little bit at one point following the 5K in the beginning. Her and that race director. (GEEZ! Give that race entry to someone who appreciates already! Would ya?!) But then I had to remind myself of that whole second line up there in the teaser. Her parents were killed by mercenaries and certainly that’s justification enough for why she’s not acting like any sort of rational human being because we all know here that going out and enjoying those runs IS at all times the rational thing to do right? ;-)

But despite my lack of enthusiasm for Cassidy at the start, she grew on me and I really wanted to see her through to that BIG finish line, both in running and in life. I needed to figure out her story. And let me tell you, Author Cami Checketts is gonna string you along until the final pages to get that full story. Once I thought I had the drama figured out, I found out I didn’t have a clue.

I love fiction. Love. It. Would like to write some myself someday actually. But I rarely have the time to sit down and read The Little Miss’ notes from school much less a novel just for the fun of it. Unless somebody had really pumped it up to me, I’d have never taken the time except for the fact that I needed to read it in order to be able to give away a copy to one of you lucky mamas. I’d have been sorely missing out though had I not read it, so let me do for you just what I’d have needed somebody to do for me and tell you that you will NOT be disappointed in this book if you choose to pick yourself up a copy. It’s far better than anything you’re going to see on tv PLUS there’s all kinds of running jargon weaved in there for you to get your fix. You’re totally gonna dig this suspense filled novel.

Want to win a copy for free? You’ve got TWO chances to win a copy of Dead Running for yourself as part of the BIG giveaway. If you haven’t already entered, you need to! Trust me. There’s more than $1500 worth of running gear and goodies up for grabs including: watches, yoga packages, gift certificates, compression wear from 110%, race entries to Rock the World, and the list goes on. I’ve never seen a blog giveaway quite this good and who knows when the opportunity will come around again so what are you waiting for? Go get in. It’ll take you all of two seconds. You’ll thank me if you’re one of the names I pull out of the hat, or in this case, big bowl I make cookies out of.

And if you’ve already entered, GO TELL SOMEONE to enter. I think we’re just under 70 or so entries. If we hit 100, I just found out we get to pick an additional winner. So your odds will be one in 50 rather than one in whatever number we end up with that’ll probably be really close to 100 and then we’ll all be kicking ourselves we didn’t push for a couple more. Did I say go now? Look, I’ll give you the link again so you don’t have to scroll back up. It’s right here.

P.S. If you just can’t wait to read Dead Running, no problem. Cami Checketts just lowered the Kindle price to $2.99 for the rest of May!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

I’m having a running first, a first I am really truly fully stoked about. AND I get the distinct pleasure of sharing it with you all :-)

Remember that race I told you all about the other day Rock the World? The 5K race with the landmark themed obstacles? Obstacles like Victoria Falls where you, “slide down one of the longest and tallest slip and slides in mid-Michigan;” The Amazon Jungle where you, “bushwhack a trail through the largest rainforest on earth. No paths, only obstruction and chaos;” and The Swiss Alps where you, “crawl across the sloping cargo nets suspended from high in the trees” to name a few. The race we’re giving away two, that’s right, TWO FREE ENTRIES to?

Well, turns out the race directors were looking for someone to take on the challenge that is their event and blog about their adventure in the process. And who better to do that than little ole me?!

Now, I had some concerns about the one fairly local to me being run in September, the same month as my big goal race, The Marquette Marathon. But then it occurred to me, there’s also one a few hours away in June. I’m generally not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination and a car ride a couple of hours away at the butt crack of dawn is about the last thing I want to do (falling just above sitting through a night at my daughter’s excruciating dance recital rehearsal with an infant and a 3 year old in tow which is coming up very very soon. Yay me.) But then I realized one of the sweetest thing about this race, I wouldn’t have to get up early at all. There are waves of this event happening ALL day up until 5:30 PM. Sign. Me. Up.

And that I did, on the house, as your… Rock The World Sponsored Blogger? Or Featured Runner Courtesy of Rock The World? Running Blog Commentator? Hmmm…what shall we call me exactly? How about this: Your Rock The World Correspondent? Yeah, that’s good I like it. Plus if we go with that, then it’s sort of like I have actually in a way (kind of) used my journalism degree, you know, the one I’m still paying off.

But it gets even BETTER guys! You know I ALWAYS do my best to loop you all into the action right? Well, not only do we have those two free entries to give away, but now they’ve given us a special registration discount for all the rest of my blog readers (or anyone who wants to pretend they’re a reader. Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you’re not ;-). If you’d like to join me at this event, when you register, use the code RUNMOM10 at checkout to receive $10 off your registration fee! Pretty sweet eh? And that code is good for either the Lansing event I’ll be at OR the event in Detroit in September. Either event, either day, any wave. OR if you’re feeling really feisty you can use it for both events!

So interspersed between all my usual ramblings, you’ll be seeing a few posts about my training for Rock the World, which for the record, will be my first ever crazy obstacle course race so that in of itself ought to be pretty entertaining. As a matter of fact, I’ve had all kinds of questions I’ve been wanting to ask about these obstacle race deals but have felt too silly to do so (and yes, this IS the same person who recently wrote to the Marquette Marathon director to ask about bears. So you know right off the bat I’ve probably got some doozies).

Now I’m totally going to turn all of those questions into a Q & A post with the race director. I also have a hunch some of YOU out there have questions about this race specifically or a similarly mudified obstacle run near you that maybe you’re a little too nervous to ask too. So now’s your chance to do so and make me look like the silly one. If you have a question about Rock The World or obstacle races in general, let me know either here in the comments, on facebook, on twitter, or send me an email if you really really don’t want to ask in front of the whole peanut gallery here at runfastmommy@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to include as many as possible into our little Q & A that’ll be coming up in the very near future.

Your Rock The World Correspondent,
Kelly

P.S. If you’re wondering where you can get in on that drawing to win the two free entries into Rock the World you can do that here. PLUS you’ll also be eligible to win a TON of other really cool running gear when you do. Good luck!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

We almost didn’t make it to this one guys! A slam packed week led to late nights that collided with early mornings. The sleep deprivation was adding up big time. Then came the icing on the proverbial cake. We had some friends over the night before the race, The Run With Honor Kids 1 Mile Fun Run, which led well into the next day. We had a blast, but it made the thought of that 6:30AM alarm on a Saturday seem a little less than exciting. “I’ll just take the girls for a run sometime next week,” my husband pleaded. But we had TOLD them already and they’d been looking forward to this race all week. “I think we ought to give it a try,” I replied half trying to convince myself when I said it.

But when that alarm clock went off in what seemed like just minutes after I had shut my eyes, suddenly my husband’s plan seemed much more reasonable then mine. Still. I figured I needed to make an effort, so I forced myself out of that cozy warm bed and made my way to the bathroom. I nearly turned right back around until the thought occurred to me that it was likely for those little people of mine to wake up within the next half hour anyway. THEY made it to bed on time and I’m sure everybody here is pretty well aware that kids could give a rip about your sleep or lack thereof. So with the chances highly likely that they’d be waking up anyway and the chance of more sleep slim to none, I decided we might as well suck it up and go, tired though we might be, rather than deal with the tears in that same worn out state. Besides, I could always try to get a nap later (Nap? Can you hear me laughing? Good thing I’m such a pushover and easy to convince first thing in the morning). I relayed all of this to my husband, who mumbled something to the effect of, “ok…wake me up in 5 minutes,” before rolling back over. I gave him 10, but wake him I did.

So running on fumes, but running nonetheless, we made it! Here’s our motley crew arriving at the scene…

Some of us are a little excited…

Some not so much…

The race was being run for the Honor Guard and their scholarship fund which meant it was crawling with police officers and firemen and of course, a truck…

And in the eyes of my children, there simply is no finer way to mark the starting line of a race course than with a fire truck! It was a small race, only about a dozen or so kids with mine and my sister’s by far being the youngest.

Before we knew it, it was go time. So my girls took the ready running position. Tiger (3yrs) like this…

Promise. She’s not just playing with the sidewalk or her shadow there. Every time I said, “ok, get ready.” That is what she did, squatted down with her hand out. If you look carefully, you can see she’s actually looking up to the right in the direction of the race director (not in the photo), who was giving the kids their instructions.

As for The Little Miss, well, she’s the big 6 now and she’s showing some significant improvements from this past summer when she was, you know, just 5. Remember this….

Well now, she gets ready like this….

She knows one of those legs are supposed to be bent anyway! Once all the kids were ready, they were off. RunDad ran with The Little Miss whom I hear discussed the running styles of cheetahs versus gazelles and which she should mimic in order to have a successful race pretty much the entire time. I, on the other hand, ran with The Tiger while pushing The Little Ninja in the jogging stroller. The Tiger was full of race strategy talk too. Mostly, she just wanted to run to “the pond”…

You might be familiar with that “pond.” It is also referred to sometimes as a Great Lake, Lake Erie to be exact.

I was pretty proud of my little Tiger though. Barring a few moments of course confusion, she pretty much ran the whole mile. She might not have been the fastest kid out there (actually, she earned the prestigious title of final finisher), but she went just as fast as those little legs would take her!

It was the end that gave her a little trouble, she wasn’t sure where to go (me either for that matter). Here’s her cousin, who’d already finished, cheering her on and pointing her in the right direction…

Then her Papa tried to guide her to the finish (I’m not sure what happened to his head here)…

She was tired…

Then Papa helped again (still without a head…impressive)…

The she got stuck in between the two timing mats…

And FINALLY!!! A MEDAL!!!

And it was a REAL medal, not one of those cheapo plastic ones that they usually hand out at kids’ races. One that was capped off with a cookie, banana, water, a fireman’s hat and a goodie bag filled with coloring pages, crayons, a police badge and I don’t even know what else…

The Little Miss was pretty proud of herself to have finished the 2nd girl overall, ahead of her little sister and her 3 year old cousin and behind the only other girl. Here’s her enjoying her post race “refreshments” nearly as important as the medal in her eyes.

And The Little Ninja? That’s what you really want to know right? How’d The Little Ninja do at her very first race? Well, here’s a shot of her in action just past the half mile mark…

After the race, we all headed over to the playground to wait for RunSis to finish her 5K which she did PRing by a whopping 3 minutes AND breaking 30 for the first time in the process. WOOHOO!!! Rock on RunSis. Rock. On.

All and all I’d say it was a pretty successful day, could only have used just one thing more to make it better… a nap!

P.S. I’ve got a pretty exciting announcement to make! Keep an eye out

P.P.S. Have you seen the massive giveaway we’re taking part in yet? Shoes, running watches, race entries, running clothes, compression pants. Yeah, you totally want to check this one out. Click here for the details.

RunNana-My mom, a junior high teacher, and breast cancer survivor who started running when she was 54. You'll meet her in the comments. She reads every single post I write. Probably to make sure I stay out of trouble.

Mobile Mile Marker, Mighty Mole Man, Papa- My dad, who last year rode his bicycle 100 miles (at once) to see if he could, but's also gracious enough to lolligag around with me oh his bike, mark the miles and chase the pervs away on my long runs

RunSis- The one & only, my little sis. Marathoner in the making & the mom I hope to one day grow up to be